Outer Cygnus Alliance
The Outer Cygnus Alliance is a relatively newly-formed conglomerate of a small number of alien species, mostly originating from the stellar-eastern part of the Galaxy. Beginning with an alliance between the Marrin and the Thakorians as the Interstellar Alliance of Sovereign Powers in around 2382, the OCA quickly grew to facilitate four more species and is currently the largest known official faction, with an estimated population of at least 23 trillion. The Alliance is known to operate primarily within their own space, preferring to maintain their vast industrial and economic centers rather than interact with the other factions - rarely if ever have they become involved with or taken interest in the affairs of the other major spacefaring civilizations. History The Outer Cygnus Alliance was formed from the IASP, an alliance between the Thakorian Coalition and Shagresh'Ti tribe of Marrin, in 2382. Being known then as the Interstellar Alliance of Sovereign Powers, the two nations contributed to eachother militarily, scientifically, economically and culturally, growing to maintain influence over a large area of space. Being allied with eachother, the Thakorians and Marrin worked together to complete many goals, which included integrating the Thakorian Kalleg Alliance back into the Coalition, driving the Marrin precursor constructs from their territories, snuffing out the last of the corrupt Imperium, and cleansing both nations' spaces of pirates and violent dissenters. After a time, other nations took interest in the Alliance, such as the Vochtar Federation, the Senton Enclave, the many Nau'Ek tribes, and a splinter-group of Terran colonists. After a long period, greater unification was seen as necessary to manage the growing alliance, which would see the individual governments overwatched and aided by a high council, the formation of a greater and stronger coalition-based army, the creation of a single allied trading circuit, and the sharing of national territory. While each sovereign nation still maintains their individual cultures and primary territory to a degree, all cooperate and contribute to the whole, staving off the horrors of the void and prospering under the same banner. As of the present, the Alliance protects itself and its people from a myriad of newly-risen threats, such as the terrible forces of the Core, rebels, monstrosities of their own creation, and potentially even Espirian terrorists. After great discussion and political turmoil on the homefront, the major nations of the area, as of 2412, elected to rename the Cygnus Dominion to the Outer Cygnian Alliance, in order to strike a more friendly and approachable posture and fit their less expansionist motives at the present day. This decision was made by the High Council - it is currently unknown as to whether the minor factions of the Alliance are either compliant to the change or ever recognized the 'Dominion' to be their proper, overall designation to begin with.. Factions Being a massive multi-trillion soul nation spanning tens of thousands of light-years, the Outer Cygnus Alliance is host to a number of sub-factions, all of which generally either serve or obstruct it but are nonetheless, regardless of political motivation, affiliated with and part of it as per a number of factors. Many of the sub-factions of the nation are either government or civilian owned, though a small number are composed of precursor remnants, pirates, xenoforms and other undesirables. Alliance Sub-Factions Shagresh'Ti Collective The Shagresh'Ti Collective is an oligarchy primarily ran and populated by the Marrin and their sub-races, originating from the Shagresh'Ti tribe which rebelled against the Marrin Imperium in around 2300-2350. Being a society with a long history of war and death, the Collective primarily seeks to remain peaceful in the Milky Way, though its people are still raised primarily from warrior caste ancestry as a holdover from the fear of war. Thakorian Coalition The Thakorian Coalition is a group of Thakorian nations all united under the same banner, namely the Raxii Federation, Kalleg Fortitude, Dugara, and Mandokhar tribes. Though each nation comes from the same mostly emotionless and self-identical species, the members of the Thakorian Coalition are all fairly different from eachother due to the conditions that led to their formation and their histories afterwards. Raxii Federation The Raxii Federation is a democratic nation of synthetic-compliant Thakorians, being the first to arrive on the new Thakorian homeworld of Raxia some time between 1000 and 2000 AD. As they are the direct descendants of the old Thaxoss people, the members of the Federation bear the most similarities with them, working closely with robots and synthetics and looking to them as political figures, mentors and even relatives in some batches of clones. As they are considered "synthetic-compliant", they refer to the old Thaxoss Codex for the majority of their laws and principles, making them appear ruthless and cold to outsiders. Kalleg Fortitude The Kalleg Fortitude is a rebellious branch of the Raxii Federation that splintered off between 2300 and 2350 when a colony ship of Thakorians destined for a far-away planet crash-landed on a harsh jungle world, leaving its inhabitants hopelessly stranded. Over a period of a few decades, the colonists were able to rebuild their ship's supercloning facility, build up an entire population and develop a sophistocated culture, thanks to their advanced intellectual power afforded by their genetically engineered brains. Due to the harsh conditions on their homeworld of Kallegorn, the members of the Fortitude were able to put up especially stiff resistance when the Raxian Thakorians came to re-integrate them into the Federation. After years of fighting and argument between the two, the Kalleg were finally convinced by IASP officials to join together with the Raxians to form the Thakorian Coalition. Dugara Dugara is a small, 'free' nation of a race of Thakorians known as the Dugar. As short, runt-like creatures, the Dugar receive little affection from their genetically pure brethren, and thus are shunned and outcasted from many Thakorian societies. After a long period of such occurrences, a small band of Dugar settlers set off to make their own in the Galaxy, and eventually founded Dugara across a small number of sectors near the tip of Coalition space. Dugara is primarily populated by cloned Dugar, who are proud of their deformity and wholeness, and are tolerant of all who live in their space. Mandokhar Tribes The Mandokhar, similarly to the Dugar, are a race of Thakorians who were outcasted for their deficiency in "pure" Thakorian society. Being descendants of a splinter-civilization of the Thaxoss, the Mandokhar believed that living alongside cold metal and android bodies was not the way that organic life was intended to go on, and primarily only used technology in the most "pure" ways possible - thus, their civilization primarily resembles tribal states instead of an interstellar space empire. Mandokhar generally outlaw or shun most technologies save for the cloning that keeps their species alive. Vochtar Alliance The Vochtar are a species that bear many coincidential physical similarities to the Thakorians, though they are share none of the same mindsets with the cloned species. Divided down the middle by two political parties that have persisted since the unification days of their homeworld, the Vochtar fight amongst eachother constantly, vying for political power in the Alliance High Council and for power over eachothers' combined space. Aside from total dominance over the Vochtaran people, both parties also fight for another cause - the expansion of their treasuries. They are known to control the majority of the Alliance's trade and commerce interaction and hold a large sum of its treasury. Occasionally the two factions will come together as one to fight for similar interests, thus solidifying their title as an alliance. Igretti Commonwealth Formed from several families of wealthy aristocrats during the unification era of the planet Voktos, the Igretti Commonwealth is a society of arts, culture and high technology. Bearing the majority of the brains in the "Alliance", the Igretti employ corporate espionage, cyber-attacks and covert military tactics to gain the advantage in the battles they fight against their brethren. Igretti colonies are generally pristine and white-coated, with robots doing the majority of the hard labor while the citizens have time to learn and enjoy themselves. Levne Nationalist Party A ruthless communist regime of rebels formed from the Igretti Families' working class during the unification era on Voktos, the Levne Nationalist Party seeks to undermine and eventually destroy the Commonwealth by dominating local Alliance markets and the Vochtaran High Council chair, thus diminishing the Commonwealth's value. Populated by mostly hardy workers and military officials, the nationalists are raised from birth on the virtues of labor. Senton Enclave A mysterious species of precursor-born creatures known only as the Sentons by rough translation of their name, these creatures inhabit the western portion of Cygnus space and keep to themselves the majority of the time. They are known to be relatively compliant with Alliance law and maintain a seat on the High Council, though they rarely, if ever, do much outside of their own territory. Sentons primarily contribute to the other Cygnian nations by offering the histories of their precursor ancestors and reverse-engineering their technologies for the Alliance to make use of. Nau'Ek Tribes The Nau'Ek are widely considered by the rest of the Alliance to be a group of warring rodents consumed by superstition and primal rage, and thus, they are primarily avoided by Cygnus peoples. Called upon monthly to attend High Council meetings, they rarely are able to organize themselves enough to adhere to the Alliance's standards and thus are constantly viewed with scrutiny. Innumerable tribes of Nau'Ek exist within the species' sectors, making travel there difficult and communications even harder due to the countless dialects of their obscure language. Terran Empire The Terran Empire of the Alliance is a democratic civilization of just leaders, peaceful citizens, and a luxurious culture. Founded from a group of wayward colonists departing from Vyridin due to their desire for more freedom and safety from the tumultuous territories of the era, they landed in Alliance space in the 23rd century and began a nation based on industrial, commercial and scientific excellence. In order to maintain the peaceful society they harbor, the Terran Empire is known to employ secret police to weed out dissent amongst its citizens - however, this rarely distracts anyone from the beautiful sights of the Terran worlds. Corporations -long and tedious list of corps -serno triton, trigmatine, ochnafer, kyotor, etc Cartography As their name would suggest, the Outer Cygnus Alliance inhabits the area from the outer Cygnus arm on the "eastern" portion of the galaxy inward, all the way to the Norma arm. While the totality of the space is not completely Alliance-controlled, much of it is patrolled by military or police forces and has been charted over years and years of mapping by government-funded exploration teams and civilian and military contributions to the Alliance's universal starmap. Demographics The Outer-Cygnus Alliance is a vast multicultural union composed of many species and their respective civilizations, requiring many specialists to chart the overall society and take detailed census data. Despite being vastly different on deeper levels, many of the Alliance's species function similarly on the surface, primarily due to the many years of cultural intermingling it has fared, and the initial similarities of the nations upon joining into the Alliance. Species Though the old Marrin Imperium was made up of countless nations and species, the number of individual alien races has dwindled to tiny and now vastly more manageable numbers, with six primary species in political power and a small handful of other minor races. This is largely due to the efforts of the corrupt Marrin Emperor Dekator, (also known as Sephat Na'Alum Khaas - or the Bringer of the Dark Sleep) who eradicated large numbers of the indigenous populations of now-ancient Marrin-controlled space during his reign to cement his control over the species already within his grasp and ensure alliance and rebellion against himself and his cabinet was impossible. Since then only the strongest of nations have remained, with minor races being allowed to remain based on their value - races that cannot contribute or hold themselves afloat are either forcefully ejected or annexed. Marrii The longest surviving race in the Alliance and one of the two primary founders, the Marrin are a race of muscular bipedal canine creatures, originating from the heavy gravity world of Yasrikgar. They are extremely advanced both scientifically and intellectually, and dwarf most other nations in their technological capability. However, due to the sensitive nature of these powerful techs, the Marrin are often reluctant to use their technology openly. The Marrin are only known to sell their more advanced technologies (warp tech, biotech, weapons, computers, etc) to the other races of the OCA, and even then in limited quantity. The Marrin are currently the largest race in the Alliance and thus hold the most sway politically - they are, effectively, the leading race, with only the Thakorians capable of rivaling them. There are three currently known sub-races of Marrin, including the smaller and highly intelligent Nokes, desert-born Tracek (pronounced traj-ek or tra-chek), and "domesticated" Kyphrians. Each have a vastly different appearances from eachother, earned primarily from their choices of planets on which to settle and the conditions on these worlds. Thakorians ''' The Thakorians are a race of sterile sergal-like creatures, featuring the ears of a goat, a stubby draconian tail, an a boxy snout. Due to the conditions on their homeworld, which was in orbit around an unstable blue star, the Thakorians were forced underground early in their evolutionary cycle, into the cave systems of their planet. They quickly were able to develop advanced technology, dominating the subterranean environment while most of the remaining creatures aboveground died out from the intense radiation and heat from the sun. However, they were not left unscathed - said radiation had significant effects on their numbers, inflicting many with debilitating cancers and sicknesses. Eventually it was predicted that the species would not be able to reproduce naturally, thus leading to a process known as "genetic re- distribution cloning" - two parents are selected to have their genes charted, and then those genes are swapped and mixed together to create a new and semi-randomized clone. The process is often left automated to ensure faulty genes are kept out, rooting out cancers and other nasty hereditary diseases. Thakorians are known throughout the galaxy for their advanced knowledge of cloning and genetics and their manufacturing and research capabilities. '''Vochtarans The Vochtarans are widely considered to be the Alliance's economic and mercantile powerhouse, handling much of its trading and treasuring and often handling diplomatic relations with other nations at the same time. This is owed to the divided state of their nation, featuring two semi-intertwined governments and many shared territories, which often struggle and fight for dominance over one another. Thus, they have much experience with negotiations and reasoning, as both sub-nations of the Vochtaran society - the Igrettian Commonwealth and Levne Nationalist Party - are often forced to work together lest they be ejected from the Alliance and lose benefits such as a strong, shared military, bountiful territories for commerce and trade and shared technical knowledge. Physically, the Vochtarans resemble Thakorians, though they are much larger in stature and build, and often feature four or six eyes, with a much more angular shape to their bodies (ex. their snouts and ears are more pointed, bones are very jagged). It has been confirmed by both nations that neither are related to eachother biologically and the similarities in appearance are merely coincidential. Terrans The Terran branch of the Alliance is an organization of lawful Humans who oppose Vyridin and other similar human nations, claiming them to be inefficient, slow to adapt and corrupted from true visions of progress and prosperity for the Human race. While not the largest branch of the Alliance, the Terrans more than make up for their size and stature with their contributions to Alliance research programs - warp technology, research, astronomy, agriculture, and a small number of related fields are their strongpoints. There is little else to say about the Terrans, as they are direct descendants from Earth Humans. Nau'Ek The Nau'Ek are a cluster of superstitious, modernized clan-states, being governed by a number of different leaders and often presenting a strong presence of political turmoil in the Alliance High Council. While they do have a single leader, known as the Lord Cheif, he is not necessarily recognized by all clan-states as their master due to distrust of the Alliance as a whole - they fear their independance will be threatened if they follow the Lord-Cheif's rule and give in to the Alliance. Generally being difficult to control and negotiate with, the Nau'Ek are one of the few races of the Alliance to feature a strong religious presence - religions being discouraged (but not entirely banned) elsewhere due to strong convictions by the Council's research segment that everything can be proved with sciences. The fact that the Marrin were almost wiped out by a religious war early in their history doesn't help their case either. Sentons The sentons are a precursor-created race of synthetic creatures, constructed to partially imitate organics in function and capability, and are usually produced by converting the remains of the dead into more of their kind. Purposed to blend in with the newer races of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Sentons seek to fulfil the directive left behind by their creators, which is to aid the newer races in any way possible, whether this be by averting warfare, contributing supplies in times of need or even protecting them from hostile entities when incapable of doing so themselves. Being the progeny of creatures that died out millenia ago, Sentons are often sought after by bounty hunters and pirates, generally recruited by research corporations in the hopes of unlocking their myriad of ancient and long-kept secrets. They are the smallest and least-known nation in the Alliance, contributing research and ancient and detailed histories to Cygnus research organizations. 2411 Integration Report As of 2411, three new species were integrated into the Alliance. Proper information is not yet available, though a basic summary is. Included are the Tarn, Okessia, and Krungejrr; while the Tarn and Krungejrr are both reptillian, the Okessia are known to be non-organic, with bodies composed entirely of metal. The species are slated to be fully integrated, along with their societies and cultures, by 2415. Languages Currently, there are only a handful of major languages frequently spoken throughout the Alliance, with a large number of other, minor languages spoken in the less-colonized territories and on minor worlds. The most common language, Cygnus Basic, was created out of a need for a common language to be shared throughout the Outer Cygnus Alliance, that each and every nation would be able to learn and speak in order to make communications easier. This is opposed to the rest of the Galaxy, most of which uses the jumbled and difficult-to-understand language of Tradeband, which features far more variety in dialects and organization than Cygnus Basic itself and the Alliance's population density allows for. Additionally, in order to maintain some semblance of order in the language, the Alliance High Council invented the Ministry of Communications, which frequently regulates which words are seen as "official" and part of the Cygnus language, and which words are not. The next most frequently spoken languages include Marrii, Thaxoss, and Vokilna, which are spoken by the Marrin, Thakorians and Vochtarans respectively. Both Marrin and Thakorian are generally fairly difficult to learn, primarily due to the fact that the latter is composed of neatly-sequenced syllables and sounds and can include nigh-incomprehensible utterances that only a computer or highly-evolved brain would be able to make sense of. The former, on the other hand, is only speakable by creatures whose mouths are shaped properly for it, as it is, for the most part, a mixture of barking, growling, snorting and rasping, with a couple of sounds recognizable as words mixed in. In addition to the languages above there are a handful of other, lesser-known languages throughout the Alliance, including many adapted Germanic Terran languages, the Senton languages, which are known by a myriad of names, such as ghostalk and ebonspeak, High Cygni, spoken by government officials and nobles, and scratchtalk, which is used by the Nau'Ek to communicate silently or in noise-polluted environments as a form of touch-language. Religion There are currently no major religions shared throughout the Outer Cygnus Alliance, due to a hefty amount of laws that suppress their practice and deny the construction of places of worship in many areas. This is primarily due to the Marrin belief that religion generally brings more violence, conflict, disagreement and regression than it does good, and the Thakorian belief that gods are purely a figment of the imagination, or a delusion, and that all can be proved with sciences and fact. On the other hand, the Sentons, being older than almost any living species in the Galaxy, would argue that the only ones deserving of worship were the precursors. Nonetheless there are still a handful of minor faiths and lingering traces of major ones that were once commonplace in the Alliance's territories. The Imperial Faith Worshipped by the Marrin only a mere few hundred years ago, the Imperial Faith was observed on almost every major world throughout the old Empire, and those who were not willing to convert or "see the light" were either ostracized or violently purged. The Faith primarily held that the natural universe, from the stars and the void down to the trees and the dirt were all gifts from the Keeper of Life, and that damaging them or disturbing them was, essentially, heresy. As a result, many of the Imperial worlds and colonies generally featured very little, if any advanced technology, and industries were kept mostly simple to avoid pollution and corruption of the environment. Only the Imperial Council, the Emperor himself, and the guardian caste were allowed to make use of higher technologies, and even then, sparingly. The Imperial Faith was mostly snuffed out during the Shagresh'Ti clan's rebellion from the Empire, as they believed the Marrin could be much, much greater with the benefits provided by science and technology. Ekkha Ekkha, and its various sub-faiths, is the religion that the majority of the Nau'Ek tribes hinge around, and is based primarily around a reverence of fire and smoke. While little is truly known about the religion, the Nau'Ek often show a great fear of flames, professing fire itself to be a form of chaotic and malevolent god, which can only be appeased by offerings - in other words, burning things. Nau'Ek often wear bulky, fireproof coats and other garments, believing that if they are burned by the fire, their souls will be eaten. Many sects of the Ekkha religion also believe that soot, ash and coal-dust are religious icons or gods as well, understanding them to be symbols of defiance and fortitude to the fire that burnt everything else away and left behind only ashen dust. Thus, runes are often drawn onto the fur or clothes with these fine materials to ward away the ravenous flames. The Crypt Faith As Sentons are, in a way, dead, and are generally produced from dead creatures, it is natural for them to revere remains and 'places of silence', such as mausoleums and graveyards. Many believe that preserving the dead as best as possible and honoring them frequently will bring good fortune or favor of the lingering spirits of their extinct precursor ancestors, or allow them to communicate with and know the secrets and knowledge of the deceased. Grave-sites are often defended fiercely by the Sentons, either by living members of the species or millenia-old constructs left behind ages ago. Alliance High Council wip Justice system -court system -law and punishment Law Enforcement There are currently three main policing entities within the Alliance, one for each respective branch of public service and protection - the Homeland Naval Defense force, Civil Enforcement and Protection, and the Communications and Intelligence Security office. Each manages a specific area of the public's protection, with the HND maintaining the space between planets and systems, the CEP protecting planets themselves, and the CIS observing freespace data in order to keep the public safe from cyber-attacks and criminal plots. In order to be more approachable and friendly to the public, all three frequently work with the Board of Public and Social Services in order to orient their personnel towards being as helpful and cooperative as possible and release PSAs to keep people informed at all times of law enforcement decisions and operations. Homeland Naval Defense The Homeland Naval Defense organization is the Alliance's primary maritime enforcement agency. Equipped with cutting-edge starships and weaponry and capable of cooperating directly with military naval vessels, the HND ensures that civilian sectors are kept safe from xenos, terrorists, rebels and hostile military forces. They also employ a number of infantry assets, which operate both on the ground and in space, primarily as shipboard security and storming units - the most famous are likely their boarding teams, which are responsible for seizing ships from hostiles and rescuing the crews, redirecting them from collision courses, and even disarming explosive devices stashed onboard. Homeland Naval Defense vessels often range from fighters to lightly-armed capital ships, though when there is a serious threat that needs to be dealt with, they are capable of pulling the powerful arbitrator-class dreadnaught from their arsenals in order to deal some serious damage. HND Freight Authority As physical defense and freightwork are both very different, though often take place amidst the stars, the Homeland Naval Defense organization has its own sub-faction to handle customs enforcement. Freight Authority vessels are responsible for patrolling trade routes and halting suspicious or unauthorized vessels and siezing illegal cargo - they maintain offices on the ground in order to ensure that ships being launched planetside are stocked with only their intended freight, and that ships landing do the same - as well as having no dangers aboard. Civil Enforcement and Policing The Civil Enforcement and Policing branch of law enforcement is the Alliance's collective planetside defense force, being made up of standard policemen, riot cops, detectives and a wide variety of automatons. As they are the closest to Cygnus citizens at any given time, the CEP is expected to maintain a stronger personnel density than the other LE branches, allowing them to overwhelm dangerous threats with both tactics and numbers. CEP officers can be found in minor Alliance settlements, as colonial police, all the way up to the delegation citadels as personal bodyguards to the Alliance High Council members. Unfortunately, however, due to their high personnel-counts and heavy infantry equipment spending, they are often held in fear or awe by civilian populations. In order to counteract this, the Board of Public and Social Services works most closely with the CEP in order to strengthen public relations. Communications and Intelligence Security The Communications and Intelligence branch of Alliance law enforcement maintains the data channels on and inbetween planets, ensuring that there are little to no conspirations or criminal plots occurring between citizens and organizations. Often the CIS works in tandem with the HND and CEP in order to provide tactical information during operations by tapping into criminals' communications lines and retrieving sensitive data on criminals' backgrounds. Due to their data-access privileges, the CIS branch generally recieves the most publicity and is the butt of many scandals and "public investigations" by talking heads and Cygnus news channels. Economy and Industry -industries -major corporations -exports and imports Education Education in the Alliance is often either funded by the High Council or established in the form of private corporate academies, paid for by companies who have a specific educational basis required for a majority of their employees and new members. In most areas, regular children (not cloned) begin education within the first few years of their lives at a children's learning center specialized for their species, learning the very basics of practical activities in a kindergarten-to-elementary environment and then moving on to areas of higher education such as arithmetic, language, history, geography and space-cartography, social studies, and sciences at advanced learning centers. Once a child has matured to a certain age and graduated from their primary schools, they are usually sent to a private and specialized academy based on their primary educational experience or preference for learning. Often, these academies are away from home and involve leaving family temporarily to be nearer to the campus, similar to a college. However, not all families are able to afford to enroll their child at an academy, and to account for this the High Council's research board often establishes multiple public learning centers that are free to all citizens to use throughout colonies. Thus, education rates in the Alliance generally range from average to high in even rural areas, allowing citizens to enjoy a wide variety of occupational fields, arts and information. As of the 2410 educational census, it has been shown that approximately %81 of the population attended at an education center during their youth, %77 were enrolled in academies, and %73 were able to graduate from the academy of their choosing. Universal Health Maintaining a mixed population of about 12 dominant species, healthcare in the Alliance is made relatively easy due to the biological simplicity of its members - six species are mammalian, three are reptilian, and three either require no medical care or can be repaired as standard machinery. At the same time, the majority of the biological species breathe oxygen and have blood that is hemoglobin-based, making operations and treatment much, much simpler, though this also means that many of them are susceptible to similar illnesses; every organic species is capable, to a degree, of contracting the same viruses and diseases. Hospital zones are generally required per-sector at each colonial settlement and are paid for by the High Council medical board, being required by law to maintain quarantine facilities, special operation suites for different species and an adequate stock of medicine relative to the population of the settlement. Sicknesses are generally uncommon as the interior of most Alliance structures contain filtered oxygen as per building regulation, making foreign contaminants less likely, while hygienic discipline is drilled into children at a young age and constantly reinforced in the workplace. Deaths related to dangerous lines of work are equally as uncommon, as work androids are used to decrease the danger to biological employees and suits of strong armor with internal medical and atmospheric systems are worn by soldiers and police alike. Alliance Military Formed initially in 2386 as the IASP Coalition Fleetgroup, the Alliance Military was once a small and primarily defensive organization, made up of many elements from both the Shagresh'Ti and Thakorians' splintered navies. Battles were short-lived, often ending in a messy and uncoordinated bloodshed as the units couldn't properly communicate with eachother due to language or social barriers and thus began to operate independantly, often interfering with eachothers' tactics. However, over the years, such barriers were steadily overcome - the creation of the Cygnus Basic language being a pivotal turning-point in the Alliance Military's history. After coordination and communication were properly mastered, and as the Alliance began to grow, more and more forces started to trickle into its reserves - strong and capable men and women, mass-produced and eager-to-fight clones, and cold, soulless robotic warriors bolstered its ranks, allowing the Alliance to sweep aside many threats and problems that would not have been otherwise possible. Currently the Outer Cygnus Alliance maintains a strong defensive posture with its military assets, focusing defenses around large clusters of inhabited planets and economic zones such as manufacturing centers and commerce hubs. As the Alliance's governments are mostly decentralized or based on minor local governances, there is little need for strong government-owned floatillas - the military is purely used by the nations of Cygnus to defend themselves and their interests, though in rare cases, the military is called upon to wage war. Rank, Order, Organization Being such a massive organization, one could only expect that the Cygnus military has an equally large command structure and vast armies and regiments of soldiers under its command. Indeed, there are many degrees of military experience and knowledge within the military's domain, and few soldiers can admit that they have mastered even a quarter of them. Often one will enter the military as a recruit, be sorted into one of its many regiments, and, if a soldier is lucky enough, live past his first trial in combat to tell the tale and progress up the chain to pursue higher and higher positions of command. Basic In order to ensure that each and every volunteer or conscripted trooper, at home or in the field, armed by the Military or with improvised weapons, is capable in battle in the slightest, all of the Alliance Military's members are first sent off to basic training. It is here that the core values of Cygnus military service are instilled, including unity, order, and loyalty to the nation. It is also where many aspiring soldiers, officers and auxiliaries are put through their first tests - basic training in the Alliance is indeed by other nations' standards brutal, with a high drop-out rate sustained across most combined military education academies. Generally basic training includes three to four parts, not deviating heavily from modern infantry training standards, including, but not limited to, the disciplinary, physio-mental, and tactical phases. During the first, fresh recruits are introduced to military sociology, having their civilian mindsets and standards stripped away by their instructors and replaced by a rigid lifestyle of order, unity, and strict schedules. In the second, the recruits are then exercised to their breaking points and tutored in many academic fields, turning their bodies into weapons and their minds into tools. The third and usually final phase of training instructs the soon-to-be soldiers in the use of their weapons and equipment and live field tactics. Once all phases of training have been completed, graduation ceremonies are commonly held, and the fresh soldiers are promoted to the next rank above recruit and the first in their desired field - whether they have chosen the Marine Corps, Armored Corps, or Space-Naval Armada. Training after this point is generally highly variable, with hundreds of individual fields for study and education available to suit an individual's interests. Rank and unit heirarchy (NOTE: Due to the complexity of the Armored Corps' squads and units, they have not been included in this example. Only the Marine Corps as a primary focus and the Space-Naval Armada's fighter counts up to platform-level have been implemented. Both have nearly identical command structures past there.) At the time of writing, there are five known active squadrons of Alliance troops, comprising of approximately five hundred billion marines. These squadrons are known, in order, as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omega. Each squadron bears significant strengths over the others and is staffed with an appropriate number of members as is called for - Alpha and Beta maintain the most active troops, as they are the Alliance's homeland defense, Gamma and Delta maintain the next-highest rosters of troops as assault and expeditionary squadrons, and Omega Squadron maintains the least troops out of all active Squadrons - However, Omega Squadron's purpose currently remains unknown. Each Squadron is also generally known for a set of traits shared throughout its sub-units and members, and all of them have a specific color for identification purposes. For example, Gamma Squadron is green, and its members are all devout supporters of the Alliance and its myriad of causes, while Alpha squadron is colored red and is one of the Alliance's first lines of defense against the horrors of space, thus its troops are merciless and unflinching in battle. Currently, Gamma and Delta Squadrons see the most action out of all five, maintaining presence in a small number of nations as military support against the Espirian threat. Branches Marine Corps The Outer Cygnus Marine Corps is perhaps its most important asset aside from the space navy, as without infantry a fighting force cannot secure and hold planetary ground - a vital component of battle in the modern space theater. Enlisting its troops from a large number of sources and even cloning, genetically engineering and building infantry in many areas, the marine corps is host to a large cast of personnel, ranging from all walks of life. Thus, many new and eager-to-fight recruits join each day to fuel the Alliance's raging campaigns, wherever they may occur. Members of the Marine Corps may find themselves performing as standard footmen, serving alongside mechs and IFVs as a cavalry detachment, or even operating under-cover behind enemy lines under the feared Alliance Red Operations Command. Equipment The standard infantry equipment packages for Cygnus infantry in the field and back at home have varied greatly over the years, though as of late the High Council military board and Cygnus Army Engineering labs have begun to settle for a more modernized approach to their soldiers; armored hardsuits with advanced technology packages, resillient and simple-to-operate weapons, and a lack of bulky and cumbersome gear culminates into a loadout fit for any environment, at any time, in any situation. While the military board has settled on these simple design principles for their infantries' equipments, there are still, however, different archetypes of soldiers for when the situation calls for it. * Grunt - Though not technically equipped for higher tactical functions, the Alliance's standard grunts are capable of doing significant damage in large numbers. They are generally only equipped with a rifle, knife, some grenades, and very light armor - often these are simply men unfortunate enough to have been caught in a firefight at their local training grounds and are not intended to be in a real battle. * Light Infantry - The backbone of Alliance ground forces, the light infantryman wears a protective hardsuit capable of operating in and out of planetary atmospheres and carries an assault weapon, pistol, grenades and knife. In addition his suit is outfitted with an identification beacon, making the need for external identifiers non-existant. Light infantry are often equipped with jumpjets, allowing them to make short vertical leaps assisted by rocket thrusters in their boots. * Heavy Infantry - Heavy infantrymen carry a mixture of explosive and ballistic weapons, providing squad-level infantry support to their lighter teammates while also offering advantages against armored vehicles and carrying extra ammunition. These troopers are generally heavily augmented compared to their lighter counterparts, allowing them to carry more equipment and hit much harder in melee. * Light Mechan ''- Mechan infantry often serve as base guards and scouts, though they occasionally fill in as impromptu reinforcements when the going gets rough in the field. Mechan carry more lethal weaponry compared to the Alliance's organic troops, as they were intended to fight against other robots and heavier soldiers. * ''Heavy Mechan - ''These hulking battle-machines tower above man and beast alike, culling any foe deranged, stupid or bold enough to stand in their way. While the heavy Mechan is not technically a powered suit or exoskeleton, many infantrymen have taken to referring to them as "automated exo-suits" due to their tremendous power. As they are so tall and visible in the field, heavy Mechan often sport banners and flags to act as a beacon of morale to their smaller comrades. '''Augmentation in the Corps' While there are countless regiments of infantry and personnel ready to serve the needs of the Alliance, they are not completely without flaw - superior numbers may be helpful in some situations but others may require special talents that a standard biological infantry unit might not be able to accomplish without bodily modification or lengthy periods of training. Thus, many of the Alliance's infantrymen are surgically augmented to better suit their combat environments. In addition to their incredibly resilient and reliable equipment and tactical ability, these augmentations provide a deadly edge over most opposition, enabling the Alliance's troops to run faster, leap higher, shoot straighter and lift more than any other infantryman would be capable of. The Alliance capitalizes upon this especially well when faced with large groups of Marrin and Vochtaran infantry, turning them into living tanks capable of withstanding tens if not hundreds of rounds at a time and tearing other infantry to shreds in seconds. In addition to augmentations being commonplace in most Alliance regiments it is also fairly common to see men and women augmenting themselves pre-enlistment - this is generally due to medical complications that would otherwise halt them from entering military service. It is required by Alliance law and military board rulings that those with debilitating medical conditions must mend themselves properly before entering into the military, and this often goes hand in hand with renting onesself to the army in exchange for "free" medical treatment. Armored Corps Serving almost in tandem with the Marine Corps, Cygnus armored battalions are composed of strong, cutting-edge vehicles crewed by the grunts and officers who didn't quite have a taste for the smaller weaponry of the field or wanted something more than simply walking and running across the battlefield. Advancing by tank, personnel carrier, mech, or even the mighty landships and "destroyer" tanks, Armored Corps troops frequently can be seen aiding and even crewing marines from the infantry branch, assisting them in battle whenever necessary. These collaborations may include, but are not limited to, capturing enemy armored installations, spearheading advances under heavy fire, and forward combat recon and intelligence gathering. Recruited primarily from industrial worlds, Armored Corps servicemen are generally skilled engineers, mechanics, or machinery operators, thus they are usually already familiar to a degree with the vehicles they are operating, significantly easing field repairs and their combat education with said craft. Main combat vehicles In order to simplify logistics and manufacturing demands back at home, the Alliance's array of combat vehicles are often adapted to serve multiple purposes in battle and thus be more efficient and useful to troops in the field. While many other nations have complex arrays of interlinking support and offensive vehicles, the Armored Corps has arranged its vehicles into a simple catalog, based on the vehicle's primary role and type. * Tanks and self-propelled artillery - Perhaps the backbone of many Cygnus field armies, tanks and self-propelled artillery weapons such as mobile rocket launchers and howitzers are used frequently in combat to soften up enemy fortifications and armored units and are often the vehicles dealing the most damage in a given battle. Equipped with cannons ranging between the 180, 240 and 320 millimeter ranges and heavy anti-armor missiles, Alliance tanks and weapons platforms pack a heavy punch. Super-heavy tanks are often known as destroyers, the name mirroring the combat ships of the same classification. * Combat support vehicle ''- Combat support vehicles are units that do not fit directly into the tank or artillery categories but also are not basic personnel carriers - carrying a small number of infantry, combat support vehicles generally sport a strong weapon intended for secondary fire-support separate from the main armaments in a battle. Primary examples would include anti-vehicle missile launchers, anti-aircraft railgun turrets, heavy acoustic weapons and even defensive mounts such as point-defense nodes. * ''Personnel carrier ''- Personnel carriers are vehicles intended primarily to carry large amounts of infantry and combat equipment directly onto the battlefield while withstanding large volumes of direct fire. Often equipped only to fight off enemy infantry threats, personnel carriers generally advance with friendly tanks or artillery cover. Larger variants of base-line personnel carriers are known as land-ships. * ''Mech -'' Often purely supportive in nature, mechs, or mecha, are small armed and armored vehicles that use a set of legs to achieve locomotion. Generally armed with anti-infantry or light anti-vehicle weapons, mechs provide Alliance infantry with forward reconnaissance data and light fire support. * ''Scout / patrol vehicle - ''These small vehicles are often used purely for scouting and patrolling territories, as their name would suggest, for the enemy's presence. Often reminescent of modern humvees, patrol vehicles usually precede heavier units in order of deployment, alongside mechs, and are maintained afterwards to patrol base grounds. * ''Tactical support vehicle ''- Tactical support vehicles can be similar to combat support vehicles, sporting purely supportive gear such as radar or jamming arrays and large fuel tanks to refuel friendly vehicles while maintaining a small infantry compartment, though they may also be of simpler roles. Cargo trucks, command vehicles, tugs and scanner rigs often fall into the tactical support vehicle classification. '''Invasion, Warfare and Occupation' Declaration of war by the Alliance on another nation or group of nations is generally performed by sending a single envoy garbed in black officials' clothes (to convey the grimness of the situation) to the capital of the civilizations in question. The envoy will then deliver a hand-written declaration from the Alliance High Council, signed by all of the delegates present, to the opposing nation's political cabinet, enclosed in a gray envelope with more than 1/2 of the Alliance's political and military seals stamped onto the front. After it has been read the opposition's government is given a decision to either return the gesture, surrender, or push for more negotiations - the envoy returns to Alliance space and then eventually military activity will generally commence. On the flipside, shooting the messenger generally is seen as a gesture of war. Occupation Despite generally being viewed as a harsh and industrialistic nation to other societies, military occupation by the Alliance is more peaceful than one might think. Upon arrival of forces at a civilian settlement or world, enemy military forces are quickly snuffed out, if they hadn't retreated already, and it is announced to the planet by Cygnus forces that they are going to be occupied - one standard rotation is then given to either evacuate or remain on the planet; however, this is sometimes not the case given the urgency of the situation. After this period, or if the Cygnus forces invading have decided to occupy immediately for other reasons, it is announced that forces will be landing planetside shortly and that any prepared resistance must surrender or face elimination. Once landing is secured forces generally make their way directly to major resource centers and political structures, siezing control of the local government and supply chains in order to install new Cygnus leadership and ensure that the population is both directly under the Military's control and indirectly under control via resource manipulation. Monitored communications are allowed to be maintained by the civilians with humanitarian and medical aid organizations to ensure population health-and-wellness, and limited communication with family is also allowed - however, any communications with official organizations and military bodies is strictly forbidden to deny leakage of information. Travel is almost entirely off-limits, to ensure that civilian vessels do not interfere with or confuse military movements, or escape back home to relay important information about the invasion. Often civilians' jobs will be swapped around so that they may be more beneficial to local Alliance forces and economic/industrial centers back home, making planets on the front-lines more valuable than simple battlefields. WMD Policy As of 2385 and the establishment of the Outer Cygnus Alliance Military Superweapons Policy, superweapons are not allowed to be used against civilian populations and it is strongly discouraged to use them against military forces unless absolutely necessary due to psychological effect, ethical concerns and destruction of local natural resources. * Following the 2411 Isprit Ring nuclear attacks on Khiondrezna, the Valko-Kerberan Order, and the Orion Federation, the High Council and underlying military board have renwed the Alliance's superweapons program, even going so far as to make a specialized dreadnaught to fit the newer military vessels being produced for the navy, that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons. While it is still frowned upon to use the weaponry against non-combat capable targets, the bombing of key military targets is no longer offlimits to Alliance commanders and any target deemed to be of top priority may recieve clearance for a nuclear missile strike. Planets and Locations Below is a list of all major and minor planets, moons, asteroid fields, space stations, and territories within the Outer Cygnus Alliance, which have been either mentioned or used ingame. This list is not, at any time, to be considered complete and may contain a few canonical inconsistencies. Information on the planets may be listed below each entry. At the very bottom there is also a section devoted to non-planetary bodies, such as asteroid fields and space stations. Akrilar Akrilar is the ancient capital-world of the now-dissolved Imperium. Since its surface has been torn apart by war over the past few decades by a mixture of IASP troops, Shagresh'Ti Rebels, pirates and even loyalists, the planet is considered uninhabitable and unsalvageable by the Alliance. It currently lies mostly abandoned, drifting around its dim orange star with a single, lonely monitor station in its debris-cluttered orbit. * Type: Dead * Primary Species: Marrin (now abandoned) Andatar Being the headquarters of Apthafochs Corporation, near Voktos, Andatar maintains a strong presence of employees originating from Voktos' Levne Nationalist Party. Though they are supporters of the heavy-handed communist regime, the Apthafochs Corporation often profits off of both sides' military efforts, selling to the Igretti Commonwealth as well as the Nationalists, earning them mixed reputations across the board. * Type: Unknown * Primary Species: Vochtarans Argus Prime Argus Prime is a lonely world that overlooks the northern edge of Alliance space, housing a tiny number of infantry and civilians. The surface is cold and dead, the planet drifting further and further away from its sun over the centuries as the other nations toil around it, unaware of the vigilant eyes that dot the planet's surface. While the planet isn't necessarily close to hostile space and is indeed further than 100 light-years away from any known militant activity, Argus still maintains a network of monitor stations complete with satellite dish arrays, space-observation towers and satellite-control centers that all work endlessly to ensure that hostile vessels do not breach into the softer northern edge of the Rhynaga Rim. As of the present day Argus produces no exports and trains no military forces on its surface, making it a true observation-world. * Type: Frozen * Primary Species: Multiple Argus-II The only other inhabited planet in the Argus System, Argus-II is often used by researchers and scientists interested in surveillance and computer sciences. Argus-II, like its sister planet, is also a frozen ice-ball of a world, and at most maintains a population of only a few hundred thousand personnel. * Type: Frozen * Primary Species: Multiple Arkanus Arkanus is a ruin-world highly prized by members of the Senton race for its large number of precursor temples and structures on the surface and submerged beneath the soil. While the Alliance High Council has little information on the planet it is known that precursor constructs roam the surface, purging it of all organics who would defile its tombs - a punishment that the Sentons are exempt from, being synthetics. A single regiment of infantry resides on Arkanus, inhabiting a large bunker suspended at the top of a cliff overlooking a large temple complex that spans outward for hundreds of miles. * Type: Lush * Primary Species: Sentons Castelli Following initial colonization by Imperial citizens in the 2200s, Castelli fell victim to destabilization of its blue star after numerous hydrogen mining operations had taken place to drain the blazing sun of its resources. Left with no other choice but to migrate under-ground where they would be safe from the sun's uneven heat-waves and solar flares, the citizens of Castelli lived underneath the planet's surface for many years, eventually leading them to develop unique traits such as acute hearing and almost perfect night-vision. Unfortunately, after their re-discovery in mid-2300 by Shagresh'Ti Rebels, they found that such prolonged periods of darkness in Castelli's vast bunker and cave systems dug after the solar disaster left them with extremely sensitive eyes, thus requiring them to use bulky optical filters whenever they wish to venture to other worlds or be present in an environment with "normal" light levels. Castelline citizens are generally extremely intelligent, having spent decades locked beneath a mile of rocks and dirt with nothing to do but study and discover at their leisure. * Type: Dead * Primary Species: Marrin Gendo-Kai This planet is one of the many ancient Marrin Coreworlds, housing large and ancient temple complexes. One of the few remaining refuges for non-Alliance conformist followers of the Imperial religion, Gendo-Kai is known for its vast reserves of chronological information and historical texts as its monks are trusted by the Council to keep safe records and data that would otherwise be lost amongst the Alliance's innumerable data stores, due to the monks' photographically trained memories. Little else is known about the world due to the Council's safekeeping of its coordinates from undesirables and the Alliance Military's defense of its system. * Type: Earth-like * Primary Species: Marrin Greus Prime Greus Prime was once the shady capital world of the Cygnus-Terrans, before the old Chancellor Tarellius Gresenvold was deposed. Home to deranged politicians, mad scientists, crazed eugenics-practitioners and religious extremists, Greus was considered extremely dangerous, even by Alliance Military standards. Very little information escaped the surface or even leaft the system then, due to the harsh and secretive thought policing organizations that were under the planetary government's control. * Type: Super-metropolis * Primary Species: Terrans Kaluras Kaluras is the world after which the Kaluras Rim territory is named. Being an industrial world and important manufacturing center in the Alliance, the planet is choked by a toxic atmosphere that clouds the sun and burns the skin of its inhabitants. People working and living on the world often stay in closed-in complexes with artificial atmospheres provided by oxygen generators and wear full protective suits when going outside to work in the manufacturing centers. Many Cygnus manufacturing corporations maintain their headquarters here or buy manufacturing contracts with companies on the surface - the Alliance Military's Army Engineering branch maintains its headquarters on Kaluras, in a citadel similar to the planetary capital fortress. * Type: Toxic * Primary Species: Multiple Lictre An Embattled border-world invaded by an NCRE expeditionary force at one point and then retaken forcefully by the Imperial navy years later, the planet Lictre suffered a horrible series of orbital bombardments from both sides to purge each others' armies from the world, and eventually, nothing was left behind but bunkers and craters. After the battle, the planet's infrastructure was so horribly damaged that it was left capable of only producing infantry, weapons, vehicles and equipment. By virtue of their past, citizens of Lictre often take it upon themselves to enlist in the local military or are enlisted by their parents at a younger age. * Type: Dead * Primary Species: Marrin, Terrans Mosher Mosher is a large jungle-garden world known for its agricultural exports and food contributions to the rest of the Alliance. As most of its farms are automated there is minimal need for organic workers save for maintenance purposes, allowing the world to produce large volumes of food without needing to feed an equally large workforce. Mosher is known to be located somewhere in the central core-world cluster, which includes Raxia and Akrilar. * Type: Lush * Primary Species: Multiple Ochnae Headquarters of the Ochnafer Corporation, located in the Juureig Colonial Zone. * Type: Unknown * Primary Species: Multiple Raggan Raggan is a dangerous waste-world home only to a handful of Cygnus colonies that dot its torn and scarred surface. Originally, Raggan had been a prosperous industrial world home to innumerable nuclear refineries, manufacturing plants, and weapons testing facilities, though years of unrest between the citizens over unfair work practices and unethical treatment caused great resentment of the planetary government. Eventually, civil war broke out between the government's loyalist regiments and cobbled-together volunteer armies formed by the civilians. Overwhelmed by the citizens' unexpected resolve and military capability acquired from long years testing the weapons they had worked so hard to manufacture, the planetary governor decided that his world, and his power, were lost, thus prompting him to unleash the planet's arsenal of nuclear weapons, which in turn torched most of the surface. Raggan is now used only as a military training world, its citizens electing to remain on its surface and raise ranks of elite NBC-oriented soldiers. * Type: Dead * Primary Species: Multiple Raxia Raxia is the 'second homeworld' of the Thakorian race after they migrated through the supervoid from their galaxy into the Milky Way and set roots here. Since then, the Thakorians have spread rapidly and integrated themselves into the Outer Cygnus Alliance, maintaining a strong position in the Council and making large contributions to the nation's industries and militaries. Raxian infantry are known as Cold Warriors and are known for their extraordinary fighting capability in arctic conditions due to the tearing winds and immense snowstorms that blanket Raxia's surface - it is said that some storms kick up such great torrents of ice and hail that if one were to stand out in the open he would be torn to shreds by the flying debris. Though the surface is too harsh to live on in most places save the equator, many Thakorians and a minority of other Cygnus citizens live underneath the surface of Raxia in sprawling bunker complexes, spanning miles and being composed of a mixture of tunnels, silos, cloning complexes, living quarters, and infrastructural facilities. Many of these bunkers are outfitted with massive hangar bays in order to allow the massive "icebreaker" starships used to leave and access the planet to land and take in or offload passengers. Without one of these ships, it is practically impossible to land on the surface without being downed by the weather. * Type: Frozen * Primary Species: Thakorians Rhavek Rhavek is the new capital world of the Cygnus-Terran Empire, after the dethroning of Chancellor Tarellius Gresenvold for his corruption. Dotted by large metros and parks, the massive planet of Rhavek is a lush vacation spot for many of its foreign inhabitants, and a paradise for its permanent ones. Rhavek is known to maintain a very low ratio of metros-to-wilderness, and is as such left primarily unscarred by industrial pollution and consumption. * Type: Lush * Primary Species: Terrans Samsahr The planet Samsahr is a desert world where the Tracek "Hyae" genus of Marrin originates from, making it an important place of study for biologists of the Council research board. Hyae Marrin are generally slimmer than their Yasrinnaean brethren and don't feature the same reinforced skeletal structure that is a direct result of the high gravity of the planets Marrin generally prefer to live on; however, they are much faster on their feet and show a great deal of agility. Samsahr is primarily dominated by vast markets and bazaars and is sparsely dotted with temples and massive palace complexes, posessing a strong resemblance of the old Imperium's societies while lacking the same religious aspects and legal codes. Thus, banditry and raiding are common in the less-populated regions of the planet. * Type: Perpetual desert * Primary Species: Marrin Sern Sern is the birthplace of the Serno-Triton Freightworks corporation and is known for the large amount of freight-ships and waystations that constantly clutter its orbit. While Sern does not produce any major exports, it is capable of pumping out large volumes of robotic workers and storing thousands of milesworth of cargo in its vast supply bunkers located beneath the soil. Sern is widely regarded as Raxia's primary source of supplies due to their proximity to eachother and the fact that both worlds are owned by Thakoria. The Serno-Triton Freightworks corporation maintains its primary headquarters and corporate citadel here. * Type: Perpetual tundra * Primary Species: Thakorians Voktos Voktos is the homeworld of the Vochtaran race (not to be confused with the Vochridans), as hinted by its name. Despite years of grueling warfare between the two dominant political parties on the world - the Levne Nationalist Party and the Igrettian Commonwealth, the world is still a bustling center of commerce and trade. To decrease the frequency of civil warfare on the surface, a large network of walls and military bunkers was erected between both nations' territories. Additionally, due to the infighting between Voktos' inhabitants there are two separate Vochtaran politicians from each party on the Alliance High Council. * Type: Earth-like * Primary Species: Vochtarans Yasrikgar Yasrikgar is known to be the birthplace of the Marrin species, housing miles of the great Imperium's ancient citadels and temples and containing a great deal of knowledge about the galaxy and universe in its vast libraries. However, due to a great disaster that occurred many eons ago, the Marrin were forced to leave the world, electing to migrate to the newly-discovered planet Akrilar in order to lay down fresh roots there. Though only the greatest of Cygnian historians hold the answers as to what caused the ancient Marrin to vacate Yasrikgar, none are willing to speak of whatever horrors may have happened there. It is often accepted by Marrin lore-tellers and less-informed historians alike that a cataclysmic nuclear war occurred between the two original sapient species of the world, the other being the Yasger, thus destroying the surface and forcing its surviving inhabitants (apparently exclusively Marrin) to move elsewhere. Yasrikgar and the space around it are currently unaccessible for unknown reasons, and all expedition forces attempting to enter the region or visit the planet itself have been lost upon arrival. * Type: Alleged dead, recorded Earth-like * Primary Species: Marrin (now abandoned) Heralim Debris Field and Shipyards Though Heralim is not officially a planet any more after being shattered by an Imperial attack long ago, it still bears many inhabitants, primarily of military occupation. Its chunks float around its super-hot blue star, held in secure orbit by gravitic stabilizers, safe from crashing into each other or falling inward towards the sun itself. Many ships and stations are located in the Heralim system, as it is a fruitful zone for both asteroid mining and space-weapons testing. Alliance soldiers are often shipped here to train in the arts of space-marine warfare and starfighter flight, and even occasionally orbital-drop insertion onto one of Heralim's many scattered chunks. Juureig Asteroid Expanse and Juureig Colonial Zone The Ochnafer Corporation's primary business grounds, and the zone that contains the planet Ochnae, this area is primarily patrolled by Ochnafer Corporation Private Military forces and is dangerous to prospect in without permission from the faction. However, many civilian colonies and stations can be found amidst the asteroids, often buying supplies from Ochnafer to fuel their own expansion and prosperity. Entrance from other nations Currently the only way to enter into the Alliance is to either apply for an observer status, pending review from the High Council. Generally nations must be within reasonable distance for territories to be merged, occupied or reasonably patrolled by the Alliance High Council, and significant contributions must be provided to the whole. Category:Old Canon